Dr. James Zogby, President, Arab American Institute to Receive the HCEF Path of Peace Award

Dr. James Zogby, President, Arab American Institute to Receive the HCEF Path of Peace Award

Speaking on behalf of the HCEF Board of Directors in announcing Jim Zogby as recipient of the award, HCEF President and CEO Rateb Rabie declared, “For over 30 years, Dr. Zogby has been a courageous, leading advocate for numerous humanitarian causes in the Middle East.

He has labored unceasingly to bring about understanding, reconciliation and peace between Arabs and Israelis and amongst Christians, Muslims and Jews alike. As an Arab American, his visionary role in these efforts has served as an inspiration and model for all Americans of Arab heritage and also for American society at large.”

The Path of Peace Award is the highest recognition established by HCEF to honor an individual who throughout his/her life has vigorously championed the cause of Peace in the Middle East. It is conferred on an individual who, through tireless personal efforts, has promoted the peaceful reconciliation between Arabs and Israelis, and amongst Muslims, Christians and Jews. The honoree is an eminent statesman, clergyman or citizen of any country who is locally or internationally recognized as a visionary and humanist for this role.

Dr. James J. Zogby is the author of Arab Voices (Palgrave Macmillan, October 2010) and Founder and President of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community. Since 1985, Dr. Zogby and AAI have led Arab American efforts to secure political empowerment in the U.S. Through voter registration, education and mobilization, AAI has moved Arab Americans into the political mainstream.

For the past three decades, Dr. Zogby has been involved in every Arab American issue. A co-founder and chairman of the Palestine Human Rights Campaign in the late 1970s, he later co-founded and served as the Executive Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. In 1982, he co-founded Save Lebanon, Inc., a private non-profit, humanitarian and non-sectarian relief organization that funds health care for Palestinian and Lebanese victims of war, and other social welfare projects in Lebanon.

Dr. Zogby currently serves on the National Advisory Board of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Watch Board of Directors for the Middle East and North Africa and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a Senior Advisor for the highly acclaimed polling firm Zogby International, where he is responsible for the firm’s groundbreaking polling across the Middle East.

As a lecturer and scholar on Middle East issues, U.S.-Arab relations, and the history of the Arab American community, Dr. Zogby is a regular guest on all the major network news programs. He himself has hosted the popular “A Capital View” on the Arab Network of America from 1993-2001. From 2001 until now he hosts the award winning “Viewpoint with James Zogby” on Abu Dhabi Television, also carried by LinkTV, Dish Network, and DirectTV.

The 2011 Path of Peace Award will be presented at the Awards Banquet on Friday evening, October 28, 2011 at the Washington Marriott, located at 1221 22nd Street, NW, Washington, DC. The Awards Banquet is held in conjunction with HCEF’s 13th International Conference on the Holy Land, which will be held Saturday, October 28-29, 2011 at the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC.

For more information on HCEF or the 13th International Conference, please visit www.hcef.org, or click on these helpful links below: